Taiwan Honors Veteran At Cedarbrook

May 22, 1988|by SUSAN YOUNGWOOD, The Morning Call

Hundreds of American soldiers toiled through Burma, China and India during World War II to build a 1,900 mile pipeline to carry gasoline to the Allied forces. One of those men, Michael J. Casciano, was honored yesterday by the Taiwanese government and the city of Allentown.

Casciano was given the China War Memorial Medal in a ceremony at Cedarbrook, the Lehigh County home, where he now lives.

Presenting him with the medal was Tom Miller, commander of the Lehigh Valley Basha of the China/Burma/India Veterans Association.

"General Yun Kuo of the Republic of China has asked me to convey his most heartfelt thanks and deepest respect for you, Michael, on behalf of the Chinese people," Miller said.

Casciano, 69, has Huntington's chorea, and although he understood the ceremony he was unable to make any comments. His wife, two children, brother and sister were present, and William Casciano pinned the medal on his brother.

"I know that it would make him feel proud that they would honor him," said his wife, Eileen Casciano.

Casciano was a technical sergeant in the Army's 1381st "Pipeline" Engineers, serving in the China/Burma/India theater from 1944-45.

"He was one of the best soldiers we had," said Albert Rozak of Allentown, the Lehigh Valley unit's service officer and a former Army staff sergeant who served with Casciano in the China/Burma/India area. "If he issued a command, it was done. He was very conscientious."

The China/Burma/India theater is little known in America, said Miller. U.S. troops were supporting the Chinese against the Japanese invasion. When the Japanese closed the Burma Road, which was the main route to deliversupplies to the Chinese, U.S. troops started building an alternate route through the jungles and mountains.

"The organization that Michael served in, the 1381st Petroleum Engineers, worked under worse conditions than those experienced by the men who constructed the Panama Canal," Miller said. "Fierce jungles, monsoons, horrible storms, insects, snakes, malaria, and at the same time the Japanese lay in wait to ambush and sabotage the line and fueling stations along the way."

Miller added that "while little has been recorded in our history books, the fortitude and ingenuity of the American servicemen in battling the odds encountered in the CBI theater of war will never go unrecognized by the Nationalist Chinese. Their history books contain glowing praise for the efforts of the American servicemen and women in protecting their homeland."

Allentown Mayor Joseph Daddona also took part in the ceremony, giving Casciano a mayor's citation "to congratulate him on being chosen for this prestigious recognition of his service to his country."

Daddona declared yesterday Michael Casciano Day in Allentown.

Eileen Casciano said her husband deserved the honor.

"He went through a lot when over in China," she said. The two were married before he went overseas, she said. He worked for A&P supermarkets in Allentown before and after the war.

A memorial service is scheduled June 5 at the China/Burma/India Monument in Allentown's West Park. General Kuo will be a guest at that ceremony.